Paradox Interactive’s latest update on the development of Crusader Kings 3 does a deep dive into the lifestyles feature and ways you can shape your character’s personality. The video reveals a lot about lifestyle focuses, and choices that affect the way you interact with the world and NPC’s. Here are a few highlights from the video. 

Skill Tree and Rewards

Game designer, Alexander Oltner, explains the difference between lifestyles in CK2 and CK3. Players choose one of the classic five skill categories: Diplomacy, Stewardship, Learning, Intrigue, and Martial. Each category has 3 lifestyle focuses that provide different events and special traits to your character. Players now gain experience (xp) from these focuses passively over time and can use this xp to unlock points on the skill tree. These lead up to perks which unlock many different bonuses, from minor modifiers to event decisions. The final perk on every skill tree will unlock a trait that stays with the character and provides a significant bonus within the category. The rate at which you passively accumulate xp is based on the quality of your education in the skill category. 

Lifestyle Events

Content designer, Sean Hughes, discusses lifestyle events and new gameplay possibilities. He shows us an event where players have the choice to be strict or lenient about collecting taxes, likely related to the stewardship skill category. This decision is also not cut and dry, as Hughes asserts that the pros and cons of each choice weigh different at different moments, and no one answer is the best answer every time. He also showcases the scholarship focus in the Learning category. Players will receive scenarios about experiments they can run, studies, and books that will improve their learning. Players also choose how far they will go with their research, as certain literature is outside of church doctrine and could toe the line of heresy. 

Developer diaries will continue to update us, as Crusader Kings 3 is set to be released in 2020. Check back here for more, and visit Paradox Interactive’s YouTube channel.